Mooring buoy



March 26, 1963 l.. HoRNBos'rEl. ETAL 3,082,439

' MooRING BUOY Filed Feb. 1o, 1961 2 sheets-sheet 1 v v ./INVENTORS,lloyd /Harnbosl-QL March 26, 1963 L. HoRNBosTEl. ETAL 3,082,439

MooRING BUOY Filed Feb. 1o, 1961 2 sheets-sheet 2 BY TRNEggs UniteStates Patent O spaanse MRING BUSY Lloyd Hornbostel, Pd). Box 214, andlay F. Figuran, 13.0. Box 232, both of ltfieibourne `bleach, Fla. FilledFeb. lil, 1 61, Ser. No. SAZ s cis-img. (ci. e-s) The present inventionrelates generally to a mooring buoy for mooring a boat to a lake orocean or river bottom.

lt has been found that conventional types of mooring buoys are notstable enough when subjected to movement caused by wind or water currentwhich tends to cause the buoy to overturn, thus causing a risk of damageto the moored boat or to the other boats in the same vicinity.

The present mooring buoy is of such a construction that the buoy remainsstable and it presents a resilient surface of the tire to contact themoored boat during any movement caused by wind or water current. Themooring buoy includes a non-corrosive watertight drum having an anchorring and a mooring ring on opposite sides of the drum and which ringsare offset with respect to one another and ofrset with respect to acentral aids through the 'buoy so that when this buoy is placed inoperation the tendency for the buoy to become overturned is reduced to aminimum. The thickness or vertical dimension of the drum does not exceedthe thickness of the tire at its thickest are rhe low profile of thebuoy and the location of the mooring rings on the buoy provide a buoythat resists wind driven movement and tendencies for the buoy tooverturn. it is in this way that the risk of damage to a moored boat orto other boats moored or moving in the vicinity is minimized.

-Another advantage of the present type of buoy is that it may bemanufactured more economically than the buoys that are presentlyavailable on the market. The drum lends itself to manufacture from stripstock. Another reason for the low manufacturing cost is that the size orthe vertical distance between the end plates of the drum is maintainedat a minimum and the amount of material required to manufacture a buoyof this type is materially reduced. The center watertight drum may beconstructed entirely of a non-corrosive material such as stainless steeland the like and the drum is thus more durable in service than the usualgalvanized steel type mooring buoy that is presently available on themarket.

An object of this invention is to provide a low prole buoy that resistsbeing overturned due to wind currents directed against it.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mooring buoy havingmooring connections on its upper and lower sides olfset with respect toone another and with respect to the central drum axis so the buoy canmore effectively resist wind currents to avoid being overturned.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a buoy having anon-corrosive metal drum having an increased life span as compared tothe mooring buoys now available on the market.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a mooring buoywhich may be manufactured at less cost than the mooring 1euoys presentlyavailable on the market.

According to certain features of the present invention the mooring buoycomprises a buoy and a circular noncorrosive metal drum which is of ahollow construction and formed from sheet metal, the drum structurebeing provided with a removable plate so that access may be made intothe material of the drum enabling air to be directed into the valve stemof the tire which valve stern is disposed within the interior of thedrum.

Many other features, advantages and additional obiects ICC of thepresent invention will become manifest to those versed in the art uponmaking reference to the detailed description which follows in theaccompanying sheets of drawings in which two preferred structuralembodiments of a mooring buoy are illustrated.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic to the bottom of a body of water;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan View of a mooring buoy of the type illustrated inFlGURE l;

FiGURB 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline lli--III looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, as seenin FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on theline lV-IV looking in the direction indicated by the arrows as seen inFIGURE 2;

FGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary View of a moditied type of mooringbuoy only with the tire omitted; and

FlGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional View takensubstantially on the line VI-Vl looking in the direction indicated bythe arrows as seen in FGURE 5.

As shown on the drawings:

illustrated diagrammatically in FGURE l is a boat 5 an'ioat on a surfaceof water 6 above a lake or ocean bottom 7 The boat 5 is provided withmooring and anchor lines S and 9 which lines function to connect amooring buoy 1@ to the boat and to connect the buoy 10 to an anchor 11.

The mooring buoy, according to the features of the present invention, iscomprised of a pneumatic tire 12 inilatable by inserting air in a valvestern 12a. The tire has circular tire beads 13-13t Mounted on the tire12 is a sheet metal non-corrosive watertight drum or buoyant circularmember 1d which may be manufactured from strip stock such as stainlesssteel and the like.

The drum 1d includes a first circular drum side wall plate or upper face15 having an outside diameter slightly in excess of the diameter of thebead 13 so its outer plate margin 15a may axially abut against a sidewall of the bead 13. The drurn 14 further includes a split ring oraxially extending ring or annular drum section 16 with its opposite ends16a-16a welded together at 17. The ysection 16 is welded to the sidewall plate 15 at 13 with the weld 1S being disposed radially inwardly ofthe outer marginal edge 15a of the side wall plate 15.

The drum 14 further includes a second circular side wall plate or lowerface 19 having an outer marginal edge 19 engaged and welded in abutmentwith an inside surface 16a of the drum section 16 at 21. Mounted on thesecond circular wall plate 19 is a radially extending ring view of aboat moored `21 having an outer margin 22, the outer margin 22 having anoutside diameter in excess of the diameter of the bead 13 and disposedradially outwardly of the bead l13v for axial engagement with the bead13. An inner radial ring margin Z3 laps and axially confronts andengages against the second plate 19. The second plate 19 is providedwith angularly arranged threaded studs 'Z4 which are welded in assemblywith the second plate 19. The threaded studs extend through studopenings in the plate 19 and through openings in the radially extendingring 21, and nuts 26 are vxthreaded onto the threaded studs to securethe radially rextending ring to the second plate 19. It will beappreciated the outer margin 15a of the first plate 15, the axial ring15 and the outer margin 2.2. of the second ring define a tire rim onwhich tire rests.

As will be seen in FIGURE 4 the tire 12 is movable I 'axially onto andoff of the axially extending ring 16 to openingZ in the ring lo throughwhich a valve stem 28 projects into the interior of the ring 16. A valvestem cover plate opening 29 is provided in the irst plate 1S in axiallyaligned relation with respect to he valve stem 2S to facilitateiniiation of the tire 1i. A cover plate 3G is clamped to the iirst platei5 over the opening 29 by means of nut and bolt fasteners 3l. A gasket32 underlies the cover plate and overlies the edge defining the opening2@ so a watertight seal may be provided when the cover plate 3G isclamped over the cover plate opening 29.

A pair of identical generally U-sha-ped brackets or connections 33 areprovided for attachment with the mooring and anchor lines 8 and 9. Thebrackets are Welded at 34 as indicated in FIGURE 3 to the rst and secondplates t and. i9. Each oi the brackets or connections includes aU-shaped portion 3S with divergent leg portions 36 welded as indicatedat da to the associated drum plate.

Each of the brackets atV the closed end of the U has an arcuate notchedout area 37 providing a seat for a ring 33 and the ring 33 is welded at39 to the bracket edges deiining the notched out area 37. It will benoted Vthe brackets 33 each extend radially across the central axis ofthe drum to provide an adequate support base for the ring 3S. The ringsB are odset with respect to one another and with respect tothe centralor axial axis of the drum. It will further be noted the rings 38 and thecentral axis are disposed in a common vertical plane so as to be capableof more effectively eoacting with the anchor and the boat.

The particular advantage of the above described construction is that thebuoy remains stable, presenting the resilient surface of the tire tocontact the moored boat during any movement caused by wind or Watercurrent. By offsetting the anchor ring and the mooring ring with respectto the central axis, while keeping the vertical distance between themshort, the overturning force is reduced to a minimum. Thus, the risk ofdamage to the moored -boat or to other boats moving in the vicinity isminimized.

The low profile results in relatively less wind driven movement of thebuoy itself than the movement of the moored |boat. This,v and the oifsetof the two rings, tends to keep the mooring line generally straight.This reduces'the chance of fowling of `the lines and the possibilitythat the anchor might be lifted by too short a mooring line.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 is a modied buoy it that is identical with the buoyif? except with regards to its con nections or brackets E3'.V in thisinstance each of the brackets comprises a strip stock piece 45 having anintermediate loop 46 deiining a mooring or anchor line ring disposedbetween opposite ends or" the strip. ri`he strip is Welded at 47 to thedrum 14 in the same way as the connectionV 33 so that the rings do inthe central drum axis are in a common vertical plane and with the rings46 on opposite sides of the central drum axis.

In both forms or our invention all ot the component parts of the drumsincluding the nuts, bolts, brackets and the like are preferably madefrom a non-corrosive material such as stainless steel.

We claim as our invention:

1. A mooring buoy including a pneumatic tire having a valve stem and abuoyant circular non-corrosive drum member on which said tire ismounted, the drum member having said valve stem projecting into itsinterior, said drum member having a sealed removable plate on one of itsfaces permitting access to be gained to the interior of the drum memberand to the valve stern for inilating the pneumatic tire, said memberhaving upper and lower opposite faces with one face provided with onlyone anchor line connection and the other face being provided rwith onlyone boat mooring line connection and with the connections being oiisetradially from a central axis of the member, and said connections beingon opposite sides of said central axis and said member so that uponpulling forces being applied to said member the forces exerted on saidconnections will react against each other to assist in resistingoverturning of the member.

2. A mooring buoy including a pneumatic tire having a valve stem and abuoyant circular stainless steel drum member on which said tire ismounted, the drum member having said valve stem projecting into itsinterior, said drum member having a sealed removable plate on one or"its faces permitting access to be gained to the interior of lthe drummember and to the valve stem for imlating the pneumatic tire, saidmember having upper and lower opposite faces with one face provided withonly one anchor line connection and the other face being provided withonly one boat mooring line connection and with the connections beingoiiset radially from a central axis of the member, and said connectionsbeing on opposite sides oi said central axis and said member so thatupon pulling forces being applied to said member the forces exerted onsaid connections will react against each other to assist in resistingoverturning of the member, said connections each comprising a U-shapedbracket having ends orP the U secured to one of said faces and having aring secured to said bracket.

3. A mooring buoy including a pneumatic tire having a valve stem and abuoyant circular non-corrosive drum met xber on which said tire ismounted, the drum member having said valve stern projecting into itsinterior, said drum member having a seaied removable plate on one of itsfaces permitting access to be gained to the interior of the drum memberand to the valve stem vfor iniiating the pneumatic tire, said memberhaving upper and lower opposite faces with one face provided with ananchor line connection and the other face being provided with a boatmooring line connection and with the connections being oiset radiallyfrom a central axis of the member, and said connections Ibeing vonopposite sides of said central axis and said mem-ber so that uponpulling forces being appiied to said member the forces exerted on saidconnectiens will react against each other to assist in resistingverturning of the member, said connections each cornpri'sing a one pieceradially extending strap secured to one 4of said faces and having a loopproviding a ring between its opposite ends.

4. A mooring buoy including a pneumatic tire having beads at its innertire margin and a buoyant circular noncorrosve sheet metal drum carryingsaid tire, saidV drum including a rst circular sheet metal drum sideWall plate having a diameter in excess or an inside diameter of saidbeads and for abutment against an axially outer side of one of saidbeads, a sheet metal strip having its opposite ends secured togetherproviding an laxially extending ring having an outside diameter closelyapproximating the diameter of said beads for supporting the lbeads onsaid drum, the axially extending ring being joined with said first plateradially inwardly fof an outer marginal edge of said first plate, asecond circular sheet metal drum side wall plate having a diameter lessthan the diameter of said beads and with said second plate being securedin assembly with said radial ring, a sheet metal radially extending ringhaving inner and outer margins with the inner margin engaged againstsaid second circular plate and with the outer margin engaged against anaxially outer side of another of said beads, means securing saidradially extending ring in removable assembly with said drum so thatwhen the radilly extend-ing ring is detached `from the drum the beads ofthe tire may be moved axially over and onto said axially extending ringand so that when the radially extending ring is attached to the drum thebeads are clamped axially between an outer margin of said iirst plateand said radially extending rings, the axial dimension of the drum notexceeding the axial dimension of the tire at its thickest area so thebuoy is subject to less wind driven movement, and a line anchoringconnection on each of said plates for joining the buoy with a boat andwith an anchor.

-5. A mooring Ibuoy having a relatively flat prolle including -apneumatic tire having a valve stem at its inner margin and a buoyantnon-corrosive sl eet metal watertight hollow drum carrying said tire inassembly thereon, lthe Valve lstem projecting into said drurn, the dr-umhaving a removable cover on one of its axially opposite sides permittingaccess to -be gained to the interior of the drum for operating the valvestem to inllate the tire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A MOORING BUOY INCLUDING A PNEUMATIC TIRE HAVING A VALVE STEM AND ABUOYANT CIRCULAR NON-CORROSIVE DRUM MEMBER ON WHICH SAID TIRE ISMOUNTED, THE DRUM MEMBER HAVING SAID VALVE STEM PROJECTING INTO ITSINTERIOR, SAID DRUM MEMBER HAVING A SEALED REMOVABLE PLATE ON ONE OF ITSFACES PERMITTING ACCESS TO BE GAINED TO THE INTERIOR OF THE DRUM MEMBERAND TO THE VALVE STEM FOR INFLATING THE PNEUMATIC TIRE, SAID MEMBERHAVING UPPER AND LOWER OPPOSITE FACES WITH ONE FACE PROVIDED WITH ONLYONE ANCHOR LINE CONNECTION AND THE OTHER FACE BEING PROVIDED WITH ONLYONE BOAT MOORING LINE CONNECTION AND WITH THE CONNECTIONS BEING OFFSETRADIALLY FROM A CENTRAL AXIS OF THE MEMBER, AND SAID CONNECTIONS BEINGON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID CENTRAL AXIS AND SAID MEMBER SO THAT UPONPULLING FORCES BEING APPLIED TO SAID MEMBER THE FORCES EXERTED ON SAIDCONNECTIONS WILL REACT AGAINST EACH OTHER TO ASSIST IN RESISTINGOVERTURNING OF THE MEMBER.